Tired of illness, and its just the beginning of winter

Noah has been down with the flu, and as you would expect from an energetic child, the illness only keeps him down when he spikes a fever otherwise he is just plain stir crazy. I finally went to the store today to get him a mask so he could wander around the house. The funny thing about this time around, is that Chad is sick to, and he is just as stir crazy if not more so than Noah.

Reflecting on the two boys in my life being quarantined in their rooms and their complete opposition to it makes me thankful that I was often in my room as a child, or often by my self forcing me to learn to enjoy the down time, or at the very least, do something useful with it. Lesson learned from the past week for me is to be deliberate about making sure that my kids are OK with spending time alone in their rooms with toys, books, etc. and don't have the "must always be doing something" itch that seems to be so prevalent now, even in my own house.

Looking forward to full nights sleep, without having to wake up and drug anyone this weekend :)

The flu...

So I am sick for the second time in three weeks - this time around is much worse than the last time in terms of energy- I think I finally have succumbed to the media star H1N1. I am ok with that, with as infective as it is, I would rather just get it over with.

The scary thing is really the lack of preparedness on the part of the authorities (health, governmental, or otherwise). The "swine flu" is the same protein designation as the casual agent of the 1918 flu pandemic that was highly lethal, and as we can easily see by watching the numbers add up this time around, the transmissibility is still there.

Lucky for us, we dodged a bullet in that it doesn't seem to be as virulent as the last time around. When the truly nasty flu pandemic finally hits us, as it inevitably will due to the highly mutagenic nature of the flu, will we be ready? or will it be a replay of this pandemic, with the deaths and subsequent panic piled on?

back to the blog

So a year later- I think I will make a go at the blogging thing again.

Today is just personal thoughts. I just started my second year at LCCC and things are off to a hectic start. I am happy to say that in spite of the craziness, I do love my job, and since so many are out of a job currently, I will try to keep my complaining in check.

Noah starts school in a couple of weeks- It is such a strange feeling to think that the "baby" years are coming to an end- now the majority of his time will be filled with school and other various activities. Some days it seems like a lifetime since Noah was born, so much has happened. But on the other hand, I still have vivid memories of painting his nursery while I was pregnant. Do all mom's feel this way?

Today I spent about 20 minutes trying to get Ava's snow boots on. Noah had on his, so of course, little sister wanted to stomp around too. The reason this actually sticks with me is it is the first time that we have really had an actual struggle with her bad leg/foot.

We went to see a neurologist at Children's hospital a couple of weeks back, and they think that Ava had a stroke in utero, and that the stroke is the cause of the reduced use and motion on her left side, including the impact on her speech. It is such a bittersweet diagnosis - positive in that she has minimal damage that she hasn't already overcome, but startling to think that something that severe could have happened to her without me even knowing. She is going to have a MRI done next, basically to have a baseline if anything happens down the road.

It has been an interesting summer.

Summer!

I am absolutely loving my "down time" this summer. The kids and I completed 4 weeks of swimming lessons - Ava's first time, and Noah's second. Noah has become quite the swimmer - he is so proud! Chad and I have been able to rearrange our house, including expanding our patio in the backyard for more outdoor living space. We also bought a fantastic popup camper that we will be heading to the mountains in next weekend. I think that I am finally out of the day to day crisis mode, and settling back into enjoying my life and family. Life is good.

And now for something ridiculous!

I forgot about this until one of my students sent me the link - this is the youtube video of me doing the superman at our homecoming pep rally with some other teachers - I am the third one from the left - and that was our AP literature teacher doing the worm - good stuff :)

Click here to see me shaking it

Weather...

The weather has been crazy lately - for some reason this year all of spring has been packed into the last couple weeks of May, and so far in June. We had a tornado that looked like the one from the final scene in "twister" pass just a few miles north of our house and today it has been raining steadily since 8am. All of the 'cooped up' time really makes me realize how much has gone to the wayside during this past year - there are piles of crap everywhere in the house, from papers, to clothes, to stuff that missed it's 90 day return window, and no one (kids or dogs) seems to really care about anything I have to say. It is just time to dive back in. Noah is becoming such a little spit-fire - stubborn and moody, and wanting so badly to make all of the decisions that impact his world. I think I am truly starting to get the first taste of the "you just wait until you have kids" comment from my parents. After the storm always comes the rainbow...

Good bye GW

I am still sitting in my classroom - but now it is empty, and most of the students are gone. I went to the graduation ceremony on sunday and wasn't as sad as I thought I would be. Graduations are the strangest thing in that everyone seems to put off saying good bye until the last minute (which is typically the graduation ceremony) and then there is no time to see everyone and actually say good bye. I remember feeling this way after my college graduation - everything seemed to just end, without any closure, hugs, tears and goodbyes. Tomorrow I turn in my keys, and walk away from GW. It has been one of the hardest years of my life, but also one of the most rewarding. Most of my students passed, with many going off to college, and many not knowing where they are going. I guess we all have times like that - I know I never would have believed 5 years ago, that I would be sitting in this chair right now in Denver, in this school. It is now time for me to return to my own kids, and bring them and my husband back to priority #1.